Treated or non treated lumber for coop

[3KillerBs]

What is your climate like?

Here in the steamy southeast, the treated support structure of my Little Monitor Coop -- which could have expected to last for decades in other circumstances -- has failed in 7-8 years of being exposed to the combination of ground contact, chicken poop, heat, humidity, and wood-destructive insects. (When moved to it's permanent location on this property it will go on concrete piers).

 

[Rodrad]

I also plan to use use rough cut pine planks (3/4”x5.5” different length). My question is should I run them through my jointer in order to get flat edges and thus they can be either glued together and install as the panels or apply construction glue on the long edges and butthem together when nailing on the frame? Without being in the panel or without “liquid nails” my concern is that there will be a draft (especially on the side of the roosting area). My next concern is would this pine wall absorb too much moisture from the air inside the coop so the wood would expand, possibly get loose around the holding screws or even crack.

 

[Ted Brown]

@Rodrad

I use rough cut pine a great deal for a variety of projects, sometime I plane/joint but it depends on a couple of factors: obviously the specific project and the quality of the cut by the miller you use (most are pretty good so no real issues).

My coop is built entirely from 1" by 6" pine (floors included) I did not joint the edges rather used battens on the outside to cover the cracks, makes for a windproof structure. I built a Woods KD Fresh Air style coop; in the book by Prince Woods he describes coops that are made from rough cut wood without jointing the sides or using battens and states that they provide a perfectly adequate coop that does not leak enough air to cause drafts that would affect the chickens.

In my experience pine does not absorb/lose enough moisture to cause screws/nails to loosen to a point that matters. I do not live in a high humidity area and cannot comment on what might happen in such an environment.

When I build board and batten walls I do not nail along the edges rather I divide the board in thirds and put two nails along the (imaginary) lines along the middle third. This is done to avoid cracking due to expansion and is a technique that has been used for hundreds of years. For my coop, built in the original method using exterior 2" by 3" around the edges (no stick framing used) I used two construction screws top and bottom. This obviously is the weakest part of the board and so far no splitting or cracking.

Good luck.

 

[Punkybrewster]

Im in upstate South Carolina. Very humid and lots of termites.
The framework of my coops are built with treated lumber but i chose to use cedar and pine picket planks for walls and plywood flooring to keep cost down.

Some of my coops are salvaged lawnmower crates so not treated but are lifted off the ground on cement blocks.